Wellard Limited has requested a voluntary suspension on trading in its shares, which could remain in place until next week.

The publicly listed livestock exporter called for a temporary halt on trading in its shares on Friday morning, pending an announcement about its 2016 full-year net profit after tax.

The company yesterday asked the ASX, which has granted the request, for a voluntary suspension of its securities until August 15 (next Monday).

Trading halts cannot last more than two days. The request for a voluntary suspension means the company has not yet been able to resolve the issue that triggered the call for a trading halt in its securities.

“The reason for the voluntary suspension is for the company to manage its continuous disclosure obligations whilst it finalises its calculations regarding its FY 2016 Net Profit After Tax,” Wellard said in a statement to the ASX this morning.

“The company request that the suspension remain in place until the earlier of the commencement of normal trading on 15 August 2016, or until the release of an ASX announcements regarding its FY2016 Net Profit After Tax.”

Wellard Limited floated on the ASX in December last year with a $298.9 million initial public offering.

It has since been a run of bad news for shareholders, with two profit downgrades announced in that time on the back of mechanical problems with ships, scheduling issues and the impact of high cattle prices on margins.

In its last announcement Wellard said its net profit was likely to be $23.5 million, down from the $46.4 million it had forecast in its prospectus.

The company’s shares opened at $1.39 in December but were trading at 40c prior to the current trading halt.